Happy Epiphany
I just had an epiphany last night … that today is Epiphany! The 12 days of Christmas are finally done (yes, so many Americans believe the 12 days of Christmas comes in the run up to Christmas Day but in fact, the countdown begins after Christmas is over).
What’s it all about? What’s it all mean?
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Pork crackling, part deux
You asked, “Why exactly would a hairdryer be used to prepare roast pork?”
Well, as a post-holiday gift to you, I’ll tell you the secret.
Shhh… lean in. Are you leaning in? Really?
Okay, so in order to make really good pork crackling, you need to get the pork as dry as possible.
According to Gastronomy Domine, after scoring the skin with a craft knife (we purchased a box cutter just for this occasion. We really are very crafty) and rubbing salt into the skin, the site recommends that you “take a hairdryer to the skin of the meat until it’s absolutely bone dry. Wrap your joint in a teatowel and refrigerate it overnight. (The atmosphere in your fridge is extremely dry, and this will help any more moisture to evaporate.)”
In short, that is why my husband went all Ken Paves on our pork.
We got some other tips here and used a little poetic license as far as the heat and timing was concerned.
But that is how we ended up with the crispiest pork rind west of the English Channel.
The year of Kate
Photo credit: Reuters/Kieran Doherty
Have you heard?
Experts (who exactly are these “experts” I do wonder…) have already predicted that “Kate” (as in Middleton) will be a big buzzword in 2012.
I guess that’s not too surprising considering she is the Duchess of Cambridge and that the future king of England will be theoretically springing from her loins and all … not to mention the fact that she has the greatest hair ever (it’s gotta be extensions, right?!) and a razor-sharp eye for purchasing clothing on a budget that still looks like a million pounds (That’s a talent, y’all … and yes, I did just use y’all for added emphasis.)
* Breathe *
Here’s the predicted buzzword list for 2012, as reported by the Daily Mail. You’re welcome, America.
1. Kate: There are seven billion humans on the planet but sometimes it seems that it’s all about Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge
2. Olympiad: The Greeks measured time by the four-year interval between the Games, held in London next year
3. Middle Kingdom: There is little indication that China’s continuing economic surge will fade from the global media spotlight – or abate
4. Bak’tun: A cycle of 144,000 days in the Maya ‘Long Count’ Calendar This bak’tun ends on December 21, 2012, also being called the Mayan Apocalypse
5. Solar max: The peak 11-year sunspot cycle
6. The Election: No Obama-mania this time around, more of an Obama-ennui for the November 6 elections
7. Deficit: Looks like deficit-spending will plague Western democracies for at least the next decade
8. Rogue nukes: Iran and North Korea will be the focus of attention here
9. CERN: Neutrons travelling faster than light? The ‘God Particle’? The world ending in a mini-black hole? All these somehow revolve around CERN (The European Center for Nuclear Research)
10. Global Warming: The earth has been warming since New York was covered under a mountain of ice; what makes 2012 any different?
11. Near-Earth Asteroid: Yet another year, another asteroid, another near-miss.
12. Europe: United, breaking apart, saving the Euro, abandoning the Euro, with the UK again as an ‘interested onlooker’
Source: Global Language Monitor
In praise of pig skin
Happy 2012! I hope you had a good New Year’s!
We had some friends over on New Year’s Day for a very big lunch. The main course? Pork tenderloin with crackling. It was no easy feat to find a butcher willing to sell such a piece of pork with the skin still on it. This is California, after all. The butcher asked repeatedly if we really wanted the skin still on it. He would be happy to remove it. It was really no trouble.
But no. We wanted the skin and it stayed. My husband prepped the pork the night before in some way that involved the hair dryer. I didn’t ask. Sometimes you have to leave Brits to their own devices. Sometimes you’re better off not knowing.
Photo credit: Felicity Cloake
What I do know: after the pig spent some time roasting in the oven the next day, it was simply gorgeous and my apologies that I had forgotten to take a photo. The skin had transformed into this thick, crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness that was indeed cracking good crackling. Blistered, buttery bliss. The crack cocaine of the pig world. We don’t eat like this every day, of course, but once a year, on New Year’s? Hell yeah!
And served with stuffing, roast potatoes, mashed carrots and swede (translation: rutabaga), red cabbage and apples, Yorkshire pudding (yeah, I know it’s not the usual accompaniment, but sometimes it’s just what is required), as well as a pavlova with fresh raspberries for dessert, we ushered in the new year with our bellies full and happy, thankful for everything that we have.
Happy New Year!
If travel is in the cards in 2012, check out Taschen’s 4 Cities, a box set of 12 volumes covering hotels, restaurants and shops in London, Paris, New York and Berlin.
In the meantime, have a wonderful New Year’s and I’ll see you back here on Tuesday!
The year of the short story
With each passing year, my attention span wanes and my reading list gets more abbreviated. Thankfully next year is already being dubbed “The Year of the Short Story,” perhaps in response to those like me who are short on time and long on commitments.
Another piece of good news: We don’t have to wait until 2012 to jump feet first into the short fiction fray. Chris Power of the Guardian has compiled a list of the top short stories published this year and he contends that there were some fantastic short reads if you knew where to look. Check it out.
And for those of you who are too time poor to read the article, I feel your pain. Here’s the recommended list:
1. Alice by Judith Hermann (Clerkenwell Press)
2. All the Lights (And Other Stories) by Clemens Meyer
3. The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories by Don DeLillo (Picador)
4. The Beautiful Indifference by Sarah Hall (Faber and Faber)
5. Best European Fiction 2012 edited by Aleksandar Hemon (Dalkey Archive)
6. Best British Short Stories 2011 edited by Nicholas Royle (Salt)
7. The Granta Book of the African Short Story edited by Helon Habila (Granta)
8. It Was Just, Yesterday by Mirja Unge (Comma Press)
9. Long, Last, Happy: New and Selected Stories by Barry Hannah (Atlantic)
10. Saints and Sinners by Edna O’Brien (Faber and Faber)
11. Scenes from Village Life by Amos Oz (Chatto & Windus)
12. The Suitcase by Sergei Dovlatov (One World)
13. We Others: New and Selected Stories by Steven Millhauser (Corsair)
London shower
I’m really loving this London’s Trafalgar Square shower curtain that I spotted on Joanna Goddard’s A Cup of Jo blog. It’s made of durable vinyl with metal grommet reinforced holes for hanging. Even better? It’s only $27 on Amazon.
Watching the English
My mother-in-law kindly bought me “Watching the English” for Christmas, a fantastic little book that actually breaks down the rules of English behavior (er, I mean behaviour). Subjects range from dress codes to driving, office-party rules to Christmas and New Year’s rules.
A must-read for anyone interested in a hilarious and truthful dissection of the English culture!
Wayne Pate
I’m loving the artwork of Brooklyn-based artist Wayne Pate. Particularly his U.K.-inspired prints and totes!
London
Brighton Beach UK
Brighton Beach UK Tote
Check out his online shop!
Happy Boxing Day!
Zellers Canada: Boxing Day Flyer
Happy Boxing Day!
Boxing Day? Well, yes. It is an honest to goodness holiday in Britain and aside from being one more guaranteed day off from work following the Christmas holiday (Dec. 26th is not a public holiday in the U.S.), it is also the official day of boxing up old toys, belongings and, you know, junk that we no longer use and box it up.
Or maybe that’s just us and how we celebrate the holiday.
In fact, there are a few theories about the origins of Boxing Day. Check out the Time Magazine story.
However you’re celebrating this special sleeper holiday, I hope it finds you smiling!
BRITRISH.COM 